Latest News from Nick Smith

A plastics processing facility in Lower Hutt now has the capacity to turn over 200 million plastic drink bottles a year into high grade food-safe packaging, thanks to a $4 million Government grant.

The facility was today opened by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Associate Minister Scott Simpson.

“This new plastics processing facility is an important part of the Government’s programme of building New Zealand’s recycling infrastructure. We are encouraging Councils and the public to do more to recycle plastics like soft drink bottles and fruit and vegetable punnets, but we also need the facilities in New Zealand to be able to remanufacture them into usable products,” Dr Smith says.

“The significance of this project and the Government’s $4 million investment is for the first time having the capacity to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic into food safe packaging. This high-tech, onshore recycling solution will mean greater employment in New Zealand, less energy used in transport and a reduction in the importation of virgin PET plastics for manufacturing.

“China recently announced a ban on importing waste and recyclables from other countries, including New Zealand. This will reduce end markets for our recyclables, and makes it even more important that we are able to recycle on shore. Flight Plastics will be able to recycle 6000 tonnes of the 8000 tonnes of PET plastic collected for recycling each year in New Zealand.

“As a country we need to be thinking smarter about ways to reduce our waste, and this facility will provide a fundamental change in the way plastic waste is managed,” Mr Simpson says.

“It is pleasing to be able to back an innovative project such as this, which shows Kiwi ingenuity is able to develop practical ideas which enhance our clean, green image.

“The expense of new infrastructure, as well as cost of getting products from one place to another for recycling, has sometimes limited opportunities for on-shore economic development in this space. This is where our Waste Minimisation Fund shows its strengths. The Government’s dedicated fund, created through a levy on waste disposed of at landfills, is available to support these kinds of projects.”

The Waste Minimisation Fund provides financial support to projects that reduce environmental harm and provide social, economic and cultural benefits. It is funded from a levy introduced by the National-led Government in 2009, which is charged on waste disposed of at landfills to discourage waste and to fund recycling initiatives. More than $80 million has been awarded to more than 130 projects to date.

Labour’s Bill purporting to make homes healthier would delay the Government’s requirements for landlords to insulate their rental homes by three years, Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“There is no debate that insulation makes our homes healthier. That is why National required all 30,000 State homes be insulated as soon as practicable after coming to Government, and why we initiated the Warm-Up New Zealand programme subsidy in our first Budget, providing subsidies for a further 290,000 homes, with a total investment of $566 million. This compares to 50,000 done during the nine years of the previous Labour Government. National also amended the Residential Tenancies Act to require the remaining 180,000 rental homes be insulated by 1 July 2019.

“The odd feature of Andrew Little’s Bill is that it would delay this requirement by more than three years. Clause 2 of the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill has the requirement for landlords to comply with insulation standards come into force five years after the Act receives Royal Assent.

“Nor are there any other health gains from this Bill. The requirements for homes to be heated, ventilated, properly drained and to be free of draughts are already required under existing housing regulations.

“The only new issue in the Bill is the requirement for landlords to maintain their property at a minimum indoor temperature. It is reasonable to require a landlord to provide appropriate heating but not to hold a landlord to account for the temperature of a home. This will depend on whether the heating is used, whether windows and doors are closed and whether drapes are pulled. National opposes this provision because it is impractical.

“There is good evidence that the standard of housing in New Zealand is improving. The latest five-yearly BRANZ survey showed the proportion of well and reasonably maintained rental properties increased from 56 per cent to 68 per cent from 2010 to 2015.

“The Government’s view is that the biggest issue in further improving the standard of rentals is enforcement. We changed the law last year to enable MBIE to directly prosecute landlords and there are now cases involving 400 properties before the Tenancy Tribunal. We are also further strengthening the law with the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) that deals with the issues of methamphetamine and the tenanting of non-residential properties like garages.

“Mr Little’s Bill is too little, too late. It is Labour trying to play catch-up on the important issue of insulating rental homes. The reality is it will delay this vital work,” Dr Smith says.

Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith and Hurunui District Mayor Winton Dalley have officially opened the Waiau temporary accommodation village for Hurunui residents whose homes were damaged in the Kaikōura Earthquake.

“The Hurunui District was hard hit by the Kaikōura Earthquake in November 2016, with more than half the dwellings damaged. This has led to families leaving the district while awaiting repairs and rebuilds as there were no alternative accommodation options,” Dr Smith says.

“Demand for temporary accommodation villages built in Christchurch after the quakes there has been dropping as rebuild works progress and the rental market recovers, so four of the Rawhiti Domain houses have been transported to Waiau to help the community there.”

Mr Dalley says the Hurunui District Council bought a site in Waiau from the Presbyterian Church for the houses to go on.

“Having temporary accommodation options in the area allows residents to continue to be part of our community, and it’s pleasing to see this encouraging step towards the region’s recovery,” he says.

“One family is already living in the village, with a number of other households expressing interest for when their home is repaired in the future. As demand for the village decreases, the Hurunui District Council will decide how the houses will best be used for the local community.”

Dr Smith says the Government paid the cost of transporting the houses to the site, and sold them to the council at a discounted cost of $24,510 each.

“These two-bedroom houses are insulated and double glazed, have a heat-pump and are designed to be resistant to seismic activity and severe weather conditions. They will ensure households have a warm, safe and dry place to stay while their home is repaired and rebuilt.”

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Temporary Accommodation Service will manage registrations of interest to stay at the village and make recommendations to the council, which will make the final call about placement in a unit. The council will also manage day-to-day property and tenancy operations, including collecting rent and lodging bond payments.

“The other 16 Rawhiti homes have been sold to farmers in the region affected by the quake. That and this Waiau village are practical steps around temporary accommodation which involve the Government and Council working together to support the region’s recovery from the devastating quake,” Dr Smith concluded.

Construction is set to start by the end of this month on the new Great Walk in Paparoa National Park in memory of the 29 men who died in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

“A West Coast company and one from Nelson will work with the Department of Conservation (DOC) on construction of the Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial tracks,” Dr Smith says.

“The Paparoa Track includes 15km of existing track at its Blackball and Punakaiki ends and about 50km of new track needs to be constructed for the Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial tracks.

“Westreef Services Limited from Westport will construct two sections of the track, from the Pororari River Track at the Punakaiki end to the Pororari Hut site, and from Pororari Hut up to and along the top of the towering Escarpment to the junction of the Paparoa Track and the Pike29 Memorial Track.

“Nelmac Limited from Nelson will construct the Pike29 Memorial Track and a section of Paparoa Track from the junction with the Pike29 Memorial Track to the bush line south of Mt Anderson. DOC staff will build new track from there to the Moonlight Tops Hut site and beyond it to connect with the existing Croesus Track.

“The Natural Construction Company of Westport will build the two 20-bunk huts, the Moonlight Tops and Pororari huts, with this work due to start in September.

“This Great Walk will be the first to be purpose-built as a mountain biking and walking track and it will have the distinction of being the only one to have this year-round shared use. It is expected to open in April 2019.

“DOC staff will also work on the mountain bike route to the lower Punakaiki Valley. This is intended to follow the southern end of the Inland Pack Track but sections of new track will be built around parts of the existing track to meet the required Advanced/Grade 4 mountain biking track standards. Walkers will take the existing Pororari River Track out to Punakaiki.

“The Great Walk construction work will create jobs and inject money into the West Coast economy, through services like helicopter transport. Mitre 10 in Hokitika will also get new business in supplying timber for bridges on the Great Walk.

“The tender process is still to run for construction of four 40-50m long suspension bridges, and this is expected to be completed towards the end of this year. DOC staff will build smaller bridges on the track.

“The start of track construction is a major milestone in bringing to fruition the new Great Walk chosen by the Pike River Families’ Committee as an enduring memorial to their men that will bring lasting economic benefit to the West Coast.”

The top two most contaminated sites in New Zealand have been successfully remediated, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said today.

“The Prohibition and Alexander mines on the West Coast topped a list of the most contaminated sites in New Zealand,” Dr Smith says.

“They have been cleaned up during the past 18 months in projects jointly funded by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Ministry for the Environment’s Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund. The two projects cost $3.6 million to complete.

“The Prohibition and Alexander mine sites were acutely toxic and a blight on New Zealand’s clean, green reputation. Their levels of arsenic were among the highest recorded anywhere in the world at 400,000 parts per million on land, or 500 times the safe level, and in water at 300 parts per million, or 33,000 times the safe limit for drinking water.

“The Prohibition mine site was contaminated from the operation of a roasting plant from 1935 to 1951, when arsenic bearing ore was roasted to release gold. The sites also have high levels of mercury and cyanide. The mining company has long gone and DOC inherited the site in 1987,” Ms Barry says.

“The Alexander processing plant that produced the high levels of arsenic operated between 1934 and 1936. The mine closed in 1943.

“These contaminated sites were the legacy of inadequate oversight and requirements of previous mining activities on the West Coast. We need to repair the environmental damage and clean up this site, but also ensure that we properly regulate mining activities today so as not to create more problems of this sort in the future,” Dr Smith concluded.

Construction is set to start by the end of this month on the new Great Walk in Paparoa National Park in memory of the 29 men who died in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

“A West Coast company and one from Nelson will work with the Department of Conservation (DOC) on construction of the Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial tracks,” Dr Smith says.

“The Paparoa Track includes 15km of existing track at its Blackball and Punakaiki ends and about 50km of new track needs to be constructed for the Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial tracks.

“Westreef Services Limited from Westport will construct two sections of the track, from the Pororari River Track at the Punakaiki end to the Pororari Hut site, and from Pororari Hut up to and along the top of the towering Escarpment to the junction of the Paparoa Track and the Pike29 Memorial Track.

“Nelmac Limited from Nelson will construct the Pike29 Memorial Track and a section of Paparoa Track from the junction with the Pike29 Memorial Track to the bush line south of Mt Anderson. DOC staff will build new track from there to the Moonlight Tops Hut site and beyond it to connect with the existing Croesus Track.

“The Natural Construction Company of Westport will build the two 20-bunk huts, the Moonlight Tops and Pororari huts, with this work due to start in September.

“This Great Walk will be the first to be purpose-built as a mountain biking and walking track and it will have the distinction of being the only one to have this year-round shared use. It is expected to open in April 2019.

“DOC staff will also work on the mountain bike route to the lower Punakaiki Valley. This is intended to follow the southern end of the Inland Pack Track but sections of new track will be built around parts of the existing track to meet the required Advanced/Grade 4 mountain biking track standards. Walkers will take the existing Pororari River Track out to Punakaiki.

“The Great Walk construction work will create jobs and inject money into the West Coast economy, through services like helicopter transport. Mitre 10 in Hokitika will also get new business in supplying timber for bridges on the Great Walk.

“The tender process is still to run for construction of four 40-50m long suspension bridges, and this is expected to be completed towards the end of this year. DOC staff will build smaller bridges on the track.

“The start of track construction is a major milestone in bringing to fruition the new Great Walk chosen by the Pike River Families’ Committee as an enduring memorial to their men that will bring lasting economic benefit to the West Coast.”

The special tribunal to consider the Waikoropupū Springs application for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) has been announced today by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith.

“The Waikoropupū Springs are the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand and contain the clearest water measured anywhere in the world. I announced last month I had accepted Ngāti Tama and Andrew Yuill’s application for consideration of a WCO to ensure these iconic waters are properly protected for future generations,” Dr Smith says.

“The appointment of this panel will enable the application to be progressed, and a thorough public submission and hearings process to be held to ensure we get the detail right.

A WCO is the highest protection possible for a water body, and the equivalent of National Park status. There are nationwide covering 13 rivers and two lakes, with this being the first application advanced for a springs. A WCO overrides any other planning instrument and requires the identified features or characteristics to be protected in perpetuity.

The five-member panel comprises:

Camilla Owen (chair): A Nelson barrister involved in environmental law, Ms Owen is an accredited Resource Management Act (RMA) decision maker.
Bob Dickinson: Previously Tasman District Council chief executive for 17 years, during which time he oversaw development and implementation of resource management plans.
Lewis Metcalfe: An agricultural policy and sustainability advisor with a farming background.
Che Wilson: Former chief negotiator for the Ngāti Rangi Trust and Deputy Secretary Māori at the Ministry for the Environment. Mr Wilson has also worked at the Department of Conservation.
Professor Jon Harding: Prof Harding is Dean of Postgraduate Research for Stream Ecology at Canterbury University, and was a member of the Board of Inquiry into the Freshwater NPS.

“The panel has a strong mix of environmental, legal, water science, local government, tikanga Māori and primary industry knowledge to ensure we get a quality outcome for Golden Bay and New Zealand,” Dr Smith says.

Public submissions on the WCO application will be called in September, with hearings scheduled for later this year. The special tribunal will then make a recommendation to the Minister for the Environment, which can be appealed to the Environment Court. The final decision, expected next year, will be made by the Minister for the Environment.

A renewed Housing Accord between the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Government was signed today to ensure the momentum of new home construction continues to grow to keep up with the tourist town’s growth, Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“Queenstown is experiencing phenomenal tourism and population growth that is welcomed but is stretching the community’s housing and infrastructure. This renewed Accord builds on the work done under the previous agreement and is about ensuring we get the necessary housing, roads, pipes and community infrastructure to support the growth.

“The Accord sets a target of 1150 new homes and sections this year, 1250 next year and 1350 in 2019, bringing a total of 3750 by the end of 2019. These ambitious targets will involve the largest building boom in Queenstown’s history and is needed if we are to address the housing supply and affordability issues impacting on the district. It also extends the capacity to use Special Housing Areas (SHAs) in the Wanaka basin to free up land for development.”

The previous accord was set three years ago and provided for a total of 1750 new residential sections and homes. It has helped double the level of residential building activity over the past three years, with seven SHAs providing capacity for another 950 homes. The renewed accord is possible because the Housing Accord and Special Housing Area legislation was extended last year until 2020.

“The renewed Accord comes on top of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) announcements yesterday that provided $50 million of interest-free government finance for the Queenstown district. “

Specifics of the developments are:

Quail Rise: 1150 homes located between Queenstown Airport and the CBD, and next to an existing housing development. Infrastructure being funded includes a new connection to State Highway 6, underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists and network mains for fresh and waste water. The subdivision will be completed by 2027.
Ladies Mile: 1100 homes north of Frankton, which will provide 14 per cent of the projected housing need in Queenstown. Infrastructure being funded includes a new connection to State Highway 6, underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists and network mains for fresh and waste water. About half the homes will be completed in the next five years, and the remaining half within 10 years.
Kingston: 950 homes, with 250 to be completed within five years and the remainder within 10. Infrastructure being funded includes a water supply intake, treatment plant, reservoir and mains distribution network, a wastewater collection network and treatment plant, and a stormwater system.

“Queenstown’s growth strategy specifically recommends targeted growth of satellite towns, and we are pleased the fund can contribute to a sensible, sustainable growth option like Kingston,” Dr Smith says.

“Currently the Kingston development is heavily constrained by its infrastructure and the proposal will help to alleviate these constraints.”

Dr Smith signed the renewed Accord with the Queenstown Lakes District Council today. The next stage is working through the Detailed Business Cases for the projects with government agencies. The first funding agreements for the HIF will be signed later this year.

A renewed Housing Accord between the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Government was signed today to ensure the momentum of new home construction continues to grow to keep up with the tourist town’s growth, Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“Queenstown is experiencing phenomenal tourism and population growth that is welcomed but is stretching the community’s housing and infrastructure. This renewed Accord builds on the work done under the previous agreement and is about ensuring we get the necessary housing, roads, pipes and community infrastructure to support the growth.

“The Accord sets a target of 1150 new homes and sections this year, 1250 next year and 1350 in 2019, bringing a total of 3750 by the end of 2019. These ambitious targets will involve the largest building boom in Queenstown’s history and is needed if we are to address the housing supply and affordability issues impacting on the district. It also extends the capacity to use Special Housing Areas (SHAs) in the Wanaka basin to free up land for development.”

The previous accord was set three years ago and provided for a total of 1750 new residential sections and homes. It has helped double the level of residential building activity over the past three years, with seven SHAs providing capacity for another 950 homes. The renewed accord is possible because the Housing Accord and Special Housing Area legislation was extended last year until 2020.

“The renewed Accord comes on top of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) announcements yesterday that provided $50 million of interest-free government finance for the Queenstown district. “

Specifics of the developments are:

Quail Rise: 1150 homes located between Queenstown Airport and the CBD, and next to an existing housing development. Infrastructure being funded includes a new connection to State Highway 6, underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists and network mains for fresh and waste water. The subdivision will be completed by 2027.
Ladies Mile: 1100 homes north of Frankton, which will provide 14 per cent of the projected housing need in Queenstown. Infrastructure being funded includes a new connection to State Highway 6, underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists and network mains for fresh and waste water. About half the homes will be completed in the next five years, and the remaining half within 10 years.
Kingston: 950 homes, with 250 to be completed within five years and the remainder within 10. Infrastructure being funded includes a water supply intake, treatment plant, reservoir and mains distribution network, a wastewater collection network and treatment plant, and a stormwater system.

“Queenstown’s growth strategy specifically recommends targeted growth of satellite towns, and we are pleased the fund can contribute to a sensible, sustainable growth option like Kingston,” Dr Smith says.

“Currently the Kingston development is heavily constrained by its infrastructure and the proposal will help to alleviate these constraints.”

Dr Smith signed the renewed Accord with the Queenstown Lakes District Council today. The next stage is working through the Detailed Business Cases for the projects with government agencies. The first funding agreements for the HIF will be signed later this year.

The Housing Infrastructure Fund will provide $300 million of infrastructure funding to Auckland Council for another 10,500 new houses across two major new subdivisions in Auckland, Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith say.

“This investment will fast-track the construction of large housing developments at Whenuapai and Redhills by increasing capacity of the water and transport networks in the area,” Mr Joyce says.

“The infrastructure funding will pay for five roading projects including a new bridge crossing to the West Harbour ferry terminal, three waste water projects and two stormwater projects.”

“More than 2,000 houses will be delivered in the first five years, with another 8,500 to be delivered in the following five years,” Dr Smith says.

“These projects have been made possible by the Auckland Unitary Plan and the billion dollar commitment from central government to assist fast-growing councils to lift housing supply.”

The Auckland HIF allocations join others around the country to enable an additional 60,000 houses to be built across New Zealand.

They will add to the current Auckland housing supply growth rate of 10,400 houses a year, and the Government’s Crown Building Project which is building 34,000 new houses in Auckland over the next ten years.

“Auckland has additional housing infrastructure projects it is seeking help with outside of the Housing Infrastructure Fund as it doesn’t have further debt capacity on its balance sheet,” Mr Joyce says. “Discussion on those options are continuing and the Government will have further to say on those matters in the weeks ahead.”

The Auckland Council will now work through Detailed Business Cases for the HIF projects alongside government agencies, with the first funding agreement from the Housing Infrastructure Fund expected to be signed in the coming months.